After the incident with the prince, I made sure to stay as far away from him as possible. He was clearly in no condition to go on with training so that helped. I spent most of the day in the garden. I was finding it a little bit hard to keep my feet on the ground.
Walking was not unusual to me, but I had grown accustomed to using my wings, so naturally, walking felt a bit outlandish. Despite the unfamiliarity, I tried as much as possible to stay on the ground, so as not to draw attention to myself.
Later that evening, I had been invited by the queen, to have dinner with the royal family. In my room, skin prickling with with anxiety, I all but quietly sat on the chair by the vanity, as Ira battled my hair. I wasn't making it easy for her.
"Keep still Aria." She said previously, clearly frustrated.
"I'm sorry Ira. I'm just worried. What if I say the wrong thing? What if I do the wrong thing? What if I send the prince flying across the room again?"
She laughed and dropped the brush on the vanity. She stood in front of me, and turned me from my sideways position, to face the mirror.
"You look beautiful." She said and smiled. "Just act naturally and it will all fall into place. And if all else fails, just make a beeline for the window."
I smacked her arm playfully. Then there was a knock on the door. I walked over and opened it, to see Devan on the other side.
"Sorry to interrupt your party girls, but we have to go." I gave him a once over. He was dressed in an outfit equally casual as my light blue knee length gown. It had a bit of embroidery at the hem and waist. But that was it. I sighed in relief of my choice of clothing, then walked out of the room with Ira.
"Good luck." she said before hugging me and walking in the other direction.
♤♤♤♤♤
The moment we entered the room, I knew it was usually an all family affair, with only few people present. Devan was close enough to the royal family to eat with them. The room only consisted of the queen, prince Dilan, me, Devan and another man talking to the prince.
Upon noticing my presence, the queen approached me with a warm smile. "Welcome. Come sit, dinner is about to be served." She guided me to a seat opposite prince Dilan's and beside Devan's.
Dinner was served and light chitchat began to flow around the room. The man I saw earlier was introduced to me as Butler, another one of the prince's childhood friends. They both were apparently his royal guards before I came.
I suddenly felt silly about fretting earlier. It was just dinner, not some big social event.
Soon conversation began to drift towards me. "How did your first training go?" The queen asked.
"It went well, I guess." I said, my mind flashing back to the events of earlier that day.
"How do you find her abilities, Dilan? "
"We tested one. It showed, slight promise." The prince said cautiously.
"I'm glad to hear that."
"I was quiet impressed. She shows exemplary sparring skills, and managed to beat Dilan, finishing it off nicely." Devan added, and gained a glare from the prince.
"I'm glad to know that you've shown so much progress in one training."
"Yes, it's nice to know we are handing the kingdom's welfare over to someone who doesn't completely lack skill." The prince said dryly. I shot him a glare. His mother did the same.
"So how long has the castle existed?" I mentally cringed at my poor attempt to change the subject.
"For over 5000 years. But I won't bore you with the historical details." The queen said.
"What was your family like?" Devan asked.
"Well, it was just me and my mother. I never knew who my dad was. We were very close and she taught me a lot of things, like sword fighting, self defense, and other things. See, she was trained in combat before she had me. Now she's gone."
"I'm sorry."Devan said, instantly apologetic for addressing the sensitive topic.
"Do you have any other relatives?" The queen asked and I shook my head no.
"That's too bad. As long as you're here, we are more than happy to join us for dinner, anytime." She said with a smile.
"Some more than others." The prince muttered.
"Excuse me?" His mother said, with an evident warning in her tone.
"I'm sorry mother, but I don't remember the last time we invited the wildlife to have dinner with us."
"Dilan!" The queen exclaimed. "That is no way to talk to her."
I was shocked. Did he not have a sensitive bone in his body? Though I was invited, I suddenly felt like I was an intrusion. It was clear that the prince thought as much. I suddenly lost my appetite.
"May I be excused?" I said, struggling to retain my composure. I was determined not to lose control, but it was proving to be a hard task, as I felt sparks at my fingertips.
The queen nodded and when I got up to leave, Devan looked at me, as if asking if he should come with me, but I smiled appreciatively, telling him I'd be fine.
As soon as I was out of the room and bolted outside, not intending on staying indoors , where people could see me. I took off in the air almost immediately I was outdoors, desperate for some fresh air.
I stared at the moon, once I had made a trips to the woods and back. I was seated on the roof of a building, multiple emotions, coursing through me. That prince was cold hearted. He dared to call me an animal?
He'd all but killed me already and it was just my third day there. He'd downright insulted and humiliated me and I was expected to endure it. He thought of me as a mere animal and was insistent on showing it. I didn't deserve this hatred was so unjustly given.
I quickly brought myself to the most important task at hand. At the end of the day, it didn't matter what that petulant prince thought. I was there for Axen, not the childish prince.
I made my way back to my room to sleep off the frustration. Hopefully I'd be ready for another day with the insufferable prince.
♤♤♤♤♤
Further training went on like the first. Maybe much worse. With me having less control over my powers and the prince and I being less than civil towards each other. I was still clueless to why he took such a disliking to me and it frustrated me. I couldn't care less of what he thought about me, especially since he'd acted like douche, ever since he brought me to the castle. Still, i wondered why he hated me so much.
It was obvious that training was getting nowhere because we simply weren't palatable. That was what drove me to dropping all my manners.
"I've had enough!" I screamed at him. We were on the training field and once again, i had sent him flying across it, after he had delivered words far from encouraging. I felt my feet leave the ground and saw flicker of fear went across his face, but it was gone as soon as it came. It remained as it was ever so often, impassive, and that only got me angrier.
"You have been nothing but unreasonable and stiff-necked. It wouldn't kill you to at least make an effort, seeing that it is also your kindom we are trying to save. Whether you like it or not, we are a team, and going on with this childishness doesn't help anything and I'm certain you're not enjoying being flung about. So why don't we just put our differences aside?"
I tried to calm down. We were already receiving some odd stares, and I was pretty sure my face was as red as a tomato.
"Look, I know you don't exactly like the idea of me being around. But why don't we at least try being civil towards each other." I sighed. "We train and that's it. I stay out of your way."
"Fine." He said, but nothing more.
Hey what do you think? Do you think Dilan will be true to his word? I'd love to hear from you.
~ Thanks for reading <3